List of United States politicians who admit to cannabis use - Pre-and-Post prohibition

[kentuck]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_politicians_who_admit_to_cannabis_use

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First cultivated more than 5,000 years ago, cannabis is one of the oldest agricultural commodities not grown for food, as its stalks contain fibers that can be used for industrial purposes.[1][2] The first American law concerning cannabis was passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 1619, which required every household to grow hemp since it was viewed as a "strategic necessity". Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other colonies later allowed hemp to be used as legal tender, increasing production by farmers. Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, grew hemp, though there is no evidence that they knew of the plant's psychoactive properties.[3]

Domestic production of hemp continued until the Civil War, when Russia began importing hemp products.[3] Marijuana became a common ingredient in medicine during the second half of the 19th century, sold openly in pharmacies as cures for migraines, rheumatism and insomnia. It was not until the Mexican Revolution, when waves of Mexican immigrants reached the American Southwest, that marijuana was viewed in a negative manner. Prejudices towards the immigrants were extended to their "traditional source of intoxication: smoking marijuana." Once marijuana reached New Orleans, newspapers associated the drug with "African Americans, jazz musicians, prostitutes, and under world whites."[3]El Paso enacted a local ordinance banning the sale or possession of marijuana in 1914, and by 1931 the drug was illegal in 29 U.S. states.[4]